Full Stock After Fishless Cycle ?

[kirkster]

Hi all,
I am a week into my fishless cycle of my new 80G tank.
The guide mentions that the tank can be fully stocked to its capacity after the cycle completes. Has anyone done that?  IF I *don't* fully stock then are "snack" ammonia doses required in the absence of the full bio load?
 
Thanks, Steve

 

[Munroco]

I think you'd be better trying a few fish first. I'd be very wary of dosing ammonia into a tank with fish though (although I'm no expert on this, putting what is the equivalent of bleach into a stocked tank sounds dangerous to me). Your bacteria should last a few days, I'd see how it goes and if all is well you can add the rest.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Yes, I have fully stocked tanks this way many times. This is one of the benefits of doing a fishless cycle. If one wants to stock gradually, they can do a fishless cycle using smaller amounts of ammonia since less bacteria is needed for this process. The less bacteria one needs the sooner one can reach those numbers. However, failing to take advantage of the full stocking usually means one is reverting to fish in cycling methodolgy as later fish are stocked. This means you may have to deal with some level of both ammonia or nitrite spikes
 
No, one should not add ammonia to a tank containing fish or inverts.

 

[kirkster]

I have about ten tetras and a couple of clown loaches in an older tank that I am getting rid off after transferring the fish.  I'll move them into the new tank first.  Will I then be able to fully stock after a week or so of transferring the existing fish?  Will a small number of fish like that maintain the filter in the interim?
Thanks.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

No I am confused. You indicated you wanted to stock gradually and now you are indicating you merely need to wait a week or so before you could stock the tank close to capacity. If you can leave the tank cycled and with no fish in it, you can add ammonia every few days to keep it cycled.
 
I would suggest adding 2 ppm of ammonia every 3 days. Before you add fish, make sure you are still at 0/0 which you should see as long as the last addition was about 24 hours earlier. Numbers may reach 0/0 before 24 hours if you want to test in 12, but you must see them there w/i 24 before stocking.
 
Moving the fish is stressful for them and there is no reason to do it twice in a week if its not necessary.
 
Finally, over time bacterial colonies will tend to size to the ammonia loading. If it is raised, the bacteria multiply in response. If it is lowered they reproduce less and their numbers shrink to an appropriate size. However, if ammonia, oxygen etc. is completely removed, the bacteria will go dormant awaiting better condition. In this case, over time, they will get weaker and begin to die off, However having them all die off takes a very long time.

 

[l_l_l]

I have stocked my tank fully after cycling many times.

 

[kirkster]

Thanks for the help guys.  I have just given the maintenance feeding - Dose3.